Information recording apparatus and method, information processing terminal, method and apparatus, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an information recording apparatus and method by which unattended recording can be executed in accordance with a set condition. If a hard disk recorder recognizes that unattended recording set by a user cannot be executed because of insufficient free capacity of a built-in hard disk, then it transmits a notification of the insufficient capacity from a communication antenna to a mobile phone of the user. The notification transmitted from the hard disk recorder is converted by a management server into data of a data format which can be output by the mobile phone, and then transmitted to the mobile phone. The user will confirm the notification of the insufficient capacity on the mobile phone and issue a request for data of the programs already stored on the hard disk recorder. The user will select a program to be erased based on the program data stored in the hard disk recorder and erase the selected program to assure the sufficient free capacity of the hard disk recorder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from Japanese Application No.P2000-249616 filed Aug. 21, 2000, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an information recording apparatus and method,an information processing terminal, method and apparatus and a recordingmedium, and more particularly to an information recording apparatus andmethod, an information processing terminal, method and apparatus and arecording medium wherein unattended recording is executed.

In recent years, a recording and playback apparatus which records atelevision program onto a recording medium such as a hard disk or anoptical disk has been developed and put into practical use. By using arecording and playback apparatus of the type mentioned to record atelevision broadcast by unattended recording, a user can enjoy thetelevision broadcast later even if the user is out at the broadcast timeof the television broadcast.

However, even if the recording medium has a sufficient remaining storagecapacity when a user presets unattended recording, the storage capacityof the recording medium may become short, for example, because a familyrecords some other program while the user is out. If the user is athome, then the user can erase data of a program which has been recordedalready onto another recording medium in response to a warning from therecording and playback apparatus to make it possible to execute theunattended recording. However, if the user is out, such a problem occursthat, for example, only part of the program preset for unattendedrecording is recorded or the recording and playback apparatus erases aprogram recorded already in accordance with its own decision.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an informationrecording apparatus and method, an information processing terminal,method and apparatus and a recording medium by which unattendedrecording can be executed in accordance with a set condition even whenthere is insufficient free storage capacity in the recording medium of arecording and playback apparatus.

In order to attain the object described above, according to the presentinvention, when a notification of insufficient storage capacity in therecording medium is received from a recording and playback apparatus,recorded contents of the recording and playback apparatus are operatedfrom a communication terminal so that unattended recording may beexecuted in accordance with a set condition.

In particular, according to an aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information recording apparatus for recording new contentsonto a recording medium which includes a recording unit operable torecord new contents onto the recording medium; a notification unitoperable to send a notification to an information processing terminalregarding a recording capacity of the recording medium; a receivercapable to receive an instruction transmitted from the informationprocessing terminal in response to the notification; and a processoroperable to process prior contents recorded on the recording medium inaccordance with the instruction.

The notification may include titles of the prior contents recorded onthe recording medium, and the processor may erase a designated one ofthe prior contents in accordance with the instruction.

The information recording apparatus may further include a presettingunit operable to preset unattended recording of the new contents ontothe recording medium, and a determination unit operable to determine afree capacity of the recording medium for recording the new contents,the notification unit sending the notification to the informationprocessing terminal based on the free capacity.

The presetting unit may search for contents to be broadcast which allbelong to a designated genre and preset so that the searched outcontents may be recorded onto the recording medium.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for recording new contents onto a recording medium, the methodincluding initiating a process to record new contents onto the recordingmedium; sending a notification to an information processing terminalregarding a recording capacity of the recording medium; receiving aninstruction transmitted from the information processing terminal inresponse to the notification; and processing prior contents recorded onthe recording medium in accordance with the instruction.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a recording medium recorded with a computer-readable programfor recording new contents onto a recording medium, the programincluding initiating a process to record new contents onto the recordingmedium; sending a notification to an information processing terminalregarding a recording capacity of the recording medium; receiving aninstruction transmitted from the information processing terminal inresponse to the notification; and processing prior contents recorded onthe recording medium in accordance with the instruction.

With the information recording apparatus, the information recordingmethod and the program of the recording medium, a notification ofinformation regarding a recording capacity of the recording medium, onwhich prior contents are recorded, is issued to the informationrecording terminal, and an instruction transmitted from the informationprocessing terminal in response to the notification is received. Then,one of the prior contents recorded on the recording medium is processedin accordance with the received instruction. Consequently, new contentsto be recorded can be recorded with certainty.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information processing terminal connectable to aninformation processing apparatus which controls an information recordingapparatus for recording contents onto a recording medium through anetwork, including a receiver operable to receive a notification issuedfrom the information recording apparatus when the recording medium hasinsufficient free capacity to record new contents; a display unitoperable to display the notification; an instruction unit operable toproduce an instruction to control recording of the new contents onto therecording medium based on the notification; and a transmitter operableto transmit the instruction to the information recording apparatus.

The display unit may display titles of prior contents recorded on therecording medium, and the instruction may include one of the titles ofthe prior contents to be erased.

The receiver may receive the notification through the informationprocessing apparatus, and the transmitter may transmit the instructionto the information recording apparatus through the informationprocessing apparatus.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for operating an information processing terminalconnected to an information processing apparatus which controls aninformation recording apparatus for recording contents onto a recordingmedium through a network. The method includes receiving a notificationfrom the information recording apparatus when the recording medium hasinsufficient free capacity to record new contents; displaying thenotification; producing an instruction to control recording of the newcontents onto the recording medium based on the notification; andtransmitting the instruction to the information recording apparatus.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a recording medium recorded with a computer-readable programfor operating an information processing terminal connected to aninformation processing apparatus which controls an information recordingapparatus for recording contents onto a recording medium through anetwork. The program includes receiving a notification from theinformation recording apparatus when the recoding medium hasinsufficient free capacity to record new contents; displaying thenotification; producing an instruction to control recording of the newcontents onto the recording medium based on the notification; andtransmitting the instruction to the information recording apparatus.

With the information processing terminal, the information processingmethod and the program of the recording medium, when the recordingmedium onto which contents are to be recorded by the informationrecording apparatus has insufficient free capacity, a notificationissued from the information recording apparatus is received through thenetwork, and the received notification is displayed. Then, aninstruction to control recording of the new contents onto the recordingmedium, that is, an instruction to process recorded contents of therecording medium provided in the information recording apparatus, isproduced based on the displayed notification, and the instruction istransmitted to the information recording apparatus. Consequently, newcontents to be recorded can be recorded with certainty onto therecording medium.

According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information processing apparatus operable between aninformation recording apparatus for recording contents onto a recordingmedium and an information processing terminal for controlling theinformation recording apparatus through a network, including a firstreceiver operable to receive a first notification produced by theinformation recording apparatus when the recording medium hasinsufficient free capacity to record new contents; a notification unitoperable to issue to the information processing terminal a secondnotification indicating receipt of the first notification by the firstreceiver; a second receiver operable to receive an instruction from theinformation processing terminal based on the second notification; and atransmitter operable to transmit to the information recording apparatusa signal for controlling recording of the new contents onto therecording medium based on the instruction.

The notification unit may issue a notification of titles of priorcontents recorded on the recording medium, and the transmitter maytransmit a signal for erasing a designated one of the prior contents inaccordance with the instruction.

According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method for operating an information processing apparatusinterposed between an information recording apparatus for recordingcontents onto a recording medium and an information processing terminalfor controlling the information recording apparatus through a network.The method includes receiving a first notification produced by theinformation recording apparatus when the recording medium onto which newcontents are to be recorded has insufficient free capacity to record thenew contents; issuing to the information processing terminal a secondnotification indicating receipt of the first notification; receiving aninstruction from the information processing terminal based on the secondnotification; and transmitting to the information recording apparatus asignal for controlling recording of the new contents onto the recordingmedium based on the instruction.

According to still a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a recording medium recorded with a computer-readable programfor operating an information processing apparatus interposed between aninformation recording apparatus for recording contents onto a recordingmedium and an information processing terminal for controlling theinformation recording apparatus through a network. The program includesreceiving a first notification produced by the information recordingapparatus when the recording medium has insufficient free capacity torecord new contents; issuing to the information processing terminal asecond notification indicating receipt of the first notification;receiving an instruction from the information processing terminal basedon the second notification; and transmitting to the informationrecording apparatus a signal for controlling recording of the newcontents onto the recording medium based on the instruction.

With the information processing apparatus, the information processingmethod and the program of the recording medium, a first notificationproduced by the information recording apparatus when the recordingmedium onto which contents are to be recorded has insufficient freecapacity is received from the information recording apparatus, and whenthe first notification is received, a second notification indicatingthis is issued to the information processing terminal. Then, aninstruction from the information processing terminal based on the secondnotification is received, and in accordance with the receivedinstruction, a signal for controlling recording of the new contents ontothe recording medium is transmitted to the information recordingapparatus through the network. Consequently, a system wherein contentsto be recorded can be recorded with certainty onto the recording mediumcan be implemented. The above and other objects, features and advantagesof the present invention will become apparent from the followingdescription and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which like parts or elements are denoted bylike reference symbols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of arecording management system to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of ahard disk recorder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating initialization of the harddisk recorder;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts illustrating initialization of the harddisk recorder;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of amobile phone shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of apersonal computer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of amanagement server shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts illustrating a notification process of thehard disk recorder;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts illustrating a transfer process of themanagement server;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are flowcharts illustrating a control process of themobile phone;

FIGS. 15A to 15F are schematic views showing different examples ofdisplays of the mobile phone;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of aninformation processing system;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a broadcasting businessunit shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a view control process of a harddisk recorder shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a view information managementprocess of a management server shown in FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a charging server shownin FIG. 16;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an order acceptance process of themanagement server;

FIGS. 22A and 22B are diagrammatic views illustrating different examplesof streams played back by the hard disk recorder; and

FIGS. 23 and 24 are flowcharts illustrating an ordering process of thehard disk recorder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown an example of a configurationof a recording management system to which the present invention isapplied. The recording management system includes a broadcastingbusiness unit 1 which executes necessary processes such as, for example,multiplexing or encryption for a television program to produce an MPEG(Motion Picture Experts Group) transport stream and transmits the MPEGtransport stream as a television broadcast wave from a broadcastingantenna 2.

The television broadcast wave transmitted from the broadcasting antenna2 is received by a hard disk recorder 3 through a satellite (not shown)and a satellite antenna 5 connected to the hard disk recorder 3.

The hard disk recorder 3 records the received television program onto ahard disk (not shown) built therein. Thereafter, the user of the harddisk recorder 3 can play back the television program recorded on thehard disk and enjoy the television program using a monitor or a speaker(not shown).

The user can preset unattended recording of a television program to berecorded to the hard disk recorder 3. For presetting of unattendedrecording, for example, a method wherein schedule information oftelevision programs is confirmed and a program to be recorded isdesignated to the hard disk recorder 3 may be used, or another methodwherein a favorable genre is designated so that all programs whichbelong to the genre are designated so as to be recorded by the hard diskrecorder 3 may be used.

The hard disk recorder 3 determines, before the broadcast time arrivesfor the program set for unattended recording, whether the hard disk hasa free capacity sufficient to record the program. If the hard diskrecorder 3 determines that the hard disk does not have sufficient freecapacity, then it starts communication by radio through a communicationantenna 6 in order to send to a notification destination set in advanceby the user a notification that there is not sufficient capacity.Therefore, the user must designate a terminal, such as a mobile phone 14or a personal computer 17 of the user itself, as the notificationdestination before the user performs presetting of unattended recordingof a television program.

The notification information transmitted by radio from the communicationantenna 6 is received by a repeating antenna 8 of the nearest repeatingstation 7 and then transmitted to a management server 10 over a network9 including the Internet.

The management server 10 converts the notification informationtransmitted thereto from the hard disk recorder 3 into information of anoutput format for the mobile phone 14 or the personal computer 17designated in advance as the destination of notification information bythe user.

The management server 10 transmits the notification information obtainedby the conversion to, for example, where the mobile phone 14 isdesignated as the notification destination, the mobile phone 14 fromanother repeating station 12 through a repeating antenna 13. On theother hand, where the personal computer 17 is designated as thenotification destination, the notification information transmitted fromthe management server 10 is transmitted to the personal computer 17through an Internet provider 16.

The user will confirm the notification information on the mobile phone14 and send an instruction to the hard disk recorder 3 to perform asuitable process, such as to erase program data recorded already by thehard disk recorder 3, using the mobile phone 14. The instructioninformation from the mobile phone 14 is transmitted from a communicationantenna 15 and sent to the hard disk recorder 3 through the managementserver 10.

The user of the mobile phone 14 or the personal computer 17 can not onlyoperate the hard disk recorder 3 in response to the notification fromthe hard disk recorder 3, but also can access the hard disk recorder 3from the mobile phone 14 or the personal computer 17 to operate the harddisk recorder 3.

A charging center 11 charges a fee for the television program recordedin the hard disk recorder 3. Further, the charging center 11 provides acipher key (scramble key) for encrypting (scrambling) the televisionprogram to the broadcasting business unit 1 and provides a decipher key(descramble key) for decrypting (descrambling) the television program tothe hard disk recorder 3.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a configuration of the hard disk recorder 3.Referring to FIG. 2, a tuner 31 selects a broadcast wave correspondingto a channel selected by the user from among broadcast waves transmittedfrom the broadcasting business unit 1 and received by the satelliteantenna 5 through a satellite (not shown). The tuner 31 supplies theselected broadcast wave to a digital demodulation circuit 32.

The digital demodulation circuit 32 QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)demodulates the broadcast wave supplied thereto from the tuner 31 toobtain a transport stream and outputs the transport stream to an errorcorrection circuit 33.

The error correction circuit 33 performs error correction processing forthe transport stream supplied thereto and outputs a resulting transportstream to a demultiplexer 34.

The demultiplexer 34 extracts a transport stream packet (video data andaudio data regarding the program whose recording is designated by theuser) from the transport stream supplied thereto from the errorcorrection circuit 33.

A central processing unit (CPU) 39 decodes a transport stream packet(hereinafter referred to as TS packet) obtained by the processing of thedemultiplexer 34 using a cipher key (primary key) and controls a harddisk 43 to record a resulting TS packet (where the resulting TS packetis a program (channel) encrypted (scrambled) with a secondary key, theTS packet in the encrypted (scrambled) state). A cipher key (descramblekey) to be used by the CPU 39 is supplied from an IC (IntegratedCircuit) card 42 through an IC card interface 41. It is to be noted thatencryption of data is hereinafter described in detail.

Meanwhile, a tuner 35 receives a ground wave of a channel designated bythe user from among analog ground waves transmitted from a predeterminedbroadcasting station or stations through a ground wave antenna 4 andoutputs the ground wave to a video decoder 36.

The video decoder 36 converts the analog data supplied thereto from thetuner 35 into digital data and outputs the digital data to an MPEGencoder 37.

The MPEG encoder 37 compresses the digital data from the video decoder36 in accordance with the MPEG 2 system to produce a TS packet. The TSpacket produced by the MPEG encoder 37 is recorded onto the hard disk 43through a system bus 38 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU39.

If an instruction to play back program data recorded on the hard disk 43is issued by the user of the hard disk recorder 3, then the CPU 39descrambles the TS packet recorded on the hard disk 43 using a cipherkey (secondary key) supplied thereto from a storage section (not shown)of a secondary key cancellation section 49 and outputs a resulting TSpacket to an MPEG decoder 47. The CPU 39 accesses, if the data of the TSpacket are scrambled with the secondary key, the management server 10using a portable telephone function of a communication section 40 toacquire the secondary key. It is to be noted that the acquired secondarykey is stored in the storage section (not shown) of the secondary keycancellation section 49. Then, the data deciphered with the secondarykey are supplied to the MPEG decoder 47.

The MPEG decoder 47 decodes the TS packet supplied thereto and convertsthe decoded TS packet into an analog video signal and an analog audiosignal. The MPEG decoder 47 outputs the video signal to an OSD (OnScreen Display) processing section 48 and outputs the audio signal to aspeaker, not shown in FIG. 2.

The OSD processing section 48 superposes necessary information on theanalog video signal supplied thereto from the MPEG decoder 47 andoutputs a resulting signal to a monitor, not shown in FIG. 2.

The communication section 40 communicates with another communicationapparatus (not shown) by radio through the communication antenna 6 inaccordance with an instruction of the CPU 39. Further, the communicationsection 40 is connected to the network 9 by a wire and transmits viewinformation of a television program viewed by the user using the harddisk recorder 3 to the management server 10.

A flash memory 44 stores information acquired from an external apparatus(not shown) in response to an instruction of the CPU 39. For example,information of a notification destination to be used when the freecapacity of the hard disk 43 is insufficient is stored in the flashmemory 44.

A ROM (Read Only Memory) 45 stores programs, fixed data and so forth tobe used by the CPU 39 to control the blocks.

An inputting section 46 is formed from switch buttons, a remotecommander or the like, and receives instructions for the hard diskrecorder 3 as input by the user.

The hard disk recorder 3 must acquire position information correspondingto the position at which it is located and time information, and must beinitialized before a television program designated by the user isrecorded. The position information is set because the televisionprograms broadcast from a broadcasting station may be differentdepending upon the district. Further, for example, in the United States,the time is different among different districts, and therefore, theposition information is required in order to determine which district'stime should be set.

FIG. 3 illustrates initialization of the hard disk recorder 3. Theinitialization is started when power is supplied for the first time tothe hard disk recorder 3 or each time an instruction for suchinitialization is issued by the user. The hard disk recorder 3 uses thecommunication section 40 thereof to communicate with a repeating station61, which is nearest to the hard disk recorder 3 itself, to acquirenecessary information.

The repeating stations 61 to 63 manage communications performed bycommunication terminals (including the hard disk recorder 3) within aradius of several kilometers. A radio wave region A1 is a range withinwhich a radio wave transmitted from the repeating station 61 reaches;another radio wave region A2 is a range within which a radio wavetransmitted from the repeating station 62 reaches; and a further radiowave region A3 is a range within which a radio wave transmitted from therepeating station 63 reaches.

The initialization of the hard disk recorder 3 is described below withreference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring first to FIG. 4, the CPU 39 first determines in step S1whether a power supply is connected. An initialization program for thehard disk recorder 3 is stored in the ROM 45 so that it may be startedwhen power is supplied from a power supply section (not shown), and theCPU 39 waits in accordance with the program until power is supplied. Ifthe CPU 39 determines in step S1 that power has been supplied from apower supply section, then the process advances to step S2.

In step S2, the CPU 39 controls the communication section 40 to startcommunication with the repeating station 61.

Then in step S3, the CPU 39 requests the repeating station 61 forposition information of the CPU 39 itself. In order to satisfy therequest, the repeating station 61 calculates position information of thehard disk recorder 3 based on a radio wave transmitted from the harddisk recorder 3. The repeating station 61 can refer also to receptionconditions of the radio wave from the hard disk recorder 3 detected bythe repeating stations 62 and 63 to calculate position information ofthe hard disk recorder 3 with a high degree of accuracy. Or, where therange of the radio wave region A1 is sufficiently small, the repeatingstation 61 can transmit position information representative of theposition of the repeating station 61 itself as position information ofthe hard disk recorder 3.

Then in step S4, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification ofposition information has been received from the repeating station 61. Ifthe CPU 39 determines that the position information cannot be acquiredsince no radio wave has been received from the repeating station 61,then the process advances to step S5.

In step S5, the CPU 39 controls the OSD processing section 48 to displayon its monitor a message indicating that position information cannot beacquired and further to display another message indicating that the useris requested to input position specification information (such as, forexample, a zip code or a district code set in advance).

Then in step S6, the CPU 39 determines whether position specificationinformation has been input by the user. If the CPU 39 determines that noposition specification information has been input, then the processadvances to step S7 illustrated in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step S7, the CPU 39 controls the monitor todisplay a message indicating that the initialization has not beencompleted as yet to notify the user of this. Thereafter, the processadvances to step S8, in which the CPU 39 ends the communication with therepeating station 61, whereafter it ends the process.

Referring back to FIG. 4, if the CPU 39 determines in step S4 that anotification of position information has been received from therepeating station 61 or determines in step S6 that positionspecification information has been input by the user, then the processadvances to step S9.

In step S9, the CPU 39 sets broadcasting stations (channels) oftelevision broadcast waves received by the ground wave antenna 4 basedon the notification from the repeating station 61 or the positioninformation input by the user and stores the set broadcasting stationsin the flash memory 44. For example, if the hard disk recorder 3 isinstalled at a place in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan, the channel numbersof broadcasting stations which can be received by the ground waveantenna 4 are set to the channels 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.Specification codes of broadcasting stations corresponding to positioninformation are set in advance in the ROM 45.

After the broadcasting stations have been set, the process advances tostep S10, in which the CPU 39 requests the repeating station 61 forcurrent time information.

Then in step S11, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification of timeinformation has been received from the repeating station 61. If the CPU39 determines that no notification of time information has been receivedfrom the repeating station 61 since a radio wave has not been receivedfrom the repeating station 61, then the process advances to step S12.

In step S12, the CPU 39 controls the monitor to display a messageindicating that time information cannot be acquired and further todisplay another message indicating that the user is requested to inputtime information.

Then in step S13, the CPU 39 determines whether time information hasbeen input by the user. If the CPU 39 determines that no timeinformation has been input, then the process advances to step S7 of FIG.5.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step S7, the CPU 39 controls the monitor todisplay a message indicating that the initialization has not beencompleted as yet. Thereafter, the process advances to step S8. In stepS8, the CPU 39 ends the communication with the repeating station 61.Thereafter, the CPU 39 ends the process.

Referring back to FIG. 4, if the CPU 39 determines in step S11 that anotification of time information has been received from the repeatingstation 61 or determines in step S13 that time information has beeninput by the user, then the process advances to step S14. In step S14,the CPU 39 sets the current time to the timer built therein based on thenotification received from the repeating station 61 or the timeinformation input by the user.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the CPU 39 acquires a credit card number of theuser in the next step S15. When the user tries to perform a transactionthrough the network 9, it registers the number of its credit card into apredetermined server together with an address, the name, a telephonenumber, a mail address and so forth required for settlement of thetransaction. Thus, the CPU 39 controls the communication section 40 toaccess a server registered in advance in the ROM 45 to request thepredetermined server (for example, the management server 10 of FIG. 1)for notification of the credit card number of the user.

The CPU 39 acquires the credit card number of the user and sets it as amethod of payment which should be used, for example, when the user viewsa program of commodity guidance and orders a commodity through the harddisk recorder 3. If order information of a commodity is input by theuser, then the CPU 39 encrypts the credit card number and transmits itto the ordering destination without requesting the user to input of thecredit card number every time.

The management server 10, which the hard disk recorder 3 requests toissue a notification of the credit card number as a result of theprocess in step S15, reads out a credit card number used by the user forpayment of a communication charge for the hard disk recorder 3 oranother credit card number used for payment of a service charge for themobile phone 14 used by the mobile phone 14 and sends a notification ofthe credit card number to the hard disk recorder 3.

In step S16, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification of a creditcard number has been received from the server. If the CPU 39 determinesthat a notification of a credit card number has not been received, thenthe process advances to step S17.

In step S17, the CPU 39 controls the OSD processing section 48 todisplay a message indicating that a credit card number cannot beacquired and to display another message indicating that the user isrequested to input a credit card number.

Then in step S18, the CPU 39 determines whether a credit card number hasbeen input by the user. If the CPU 39 determines that no credit cardnumber has been input by the user, then the process advances to step S7.

In step S7, the CPU 39 controls the monitor to display a messageindicating that the initialization has not been completed as yet.Thereafter, the process advances to step S8. In step S8, the CPU 39controls the communication section 40 to end the communication.Thereafter, the CPU 39 ends the process.

On the other hand, if the CPU 39 determines in step S16 that anotification of a credit card number has been received from the serveror determines in step S18 that a credit card number has been input bythe user, then the process advances to step S19.

In step S19, the CPU 39 stores the credit card number in the flashmemory 44 to set it as a method of payment when ordering information ofa commodity is input by the user.

Then in step S20, the CPU 39 controls the monitor to display a messageindicating that the initialization has been completed.

Then in step S8, the CPU 39 ends the communication with the repeatingstation 61. Thereafter, the CPU 39 ends the process.

In the foregoing, the CPU 39 requests the repeating station 61 forposition information of the hard disk recorder 3 and time information.However, the CPU 39 may alternatively acquire such information from themanagement server 10 which manages information of the hard disk recorder3.

Further, the CPU 39 may acquire setting information not through radiocommunication from the communication section 40 but through wirecommunication from the communication section 40.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a configuration of the mobile phone 14.

Referring to FIG. 6, a CPU 71 controls operation of the entire mobilephone 14. A ROM 72 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 73 are connected tothe CPU 71 by a bus 74. Programs and fixed data necessary for controlprocessing to be executed by the CPU 71 are stored in the ROM 72, andvarious data including working data necessary for processing of the CPU71 are stored into the RAM 73.

An input/output interface 75 is connected to the CPU 71 by the bus 74,and various processing blocks are connected to the CPU 71 through theinput/output interface 75.

A communication section 76 transmits a radio signal from thecommunication antenna 15 in accordance with an instruction of the CPU 71to communicate with another communication terminal through the nearestrepeating station.

An inputting section 77 is an operation section composed of switchbuttons and so forth which are used to input a telephone number when theuser tries to originate a telephone call. Further, the user operates theinputting section 77 to input an instruction for remotely controllingthe hard disk recorder 3.

An audio inputting/outputting section 78 includes a microphone and aspeaker and inputs and outputs voice when the mobile phone 14 is used asan ordinary telephone set.

A display section 79 is formed from an LCD (liquid crystal display) unitand displays, when a telephone function is executed, a telephone numberof another mobile phone with which the mobile phone 14 communicates.Further, when the user of the mobile phone 14 remotely controls the harddisk recorder 3, the display section 79 displays various messages (suchmessages as illustrated in FIGS. 15A to 15F) transmitted thereto fromthe hard disk recorder 3 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU71.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a configuration of the personal computer 17.

A CPU 91 controls operation of the entire personal computer 17. A ROM 92and a RAM 93 are connected to the CPU 91 by a bus 94. Programs and fixeddata necessary for control processing to be executed by the CPU 91 arestored in the ROM 92. Meanwhile, various data including working datanecessary for processing of the CPU 91 are stored into the RAM 93.

An input/output interface 95 is connected to the CPU 91 by the bus 94,and various processing blocks are connected to the CPU 91 through theinput/output interface 95.

An inputting section 96 is formed from an input device such as akeyboard and/or a mouse, and various instructions are inputted to theinput section 96 by the user of the personal computer 17.

An outputting section 97 and a display section 98 are formed from aspeaker, an LCD unit, a CRT and so forth, and the result of processingby the CPU 91 and so forth are output (displayed) by the outputtingsection 97 and the display section 98.

A storage section 99 includes a hard disk, and various kinds ofinformation and programs managed by the user of the personal computer 17are stored in the storage section 99.

A communication section 100 communicates with various terminals throughthe network 9.

A drive 101 is connected to the input/output interface 95. The drive 101is used to read or write data from or onto such recording media as amagnetic disk 102 (including a floppy disk), an optical disk 103(including a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) and a DVD (DigitalVersatile Disk)), a magneto-optical disk 104 (including an MD(Mini-Disc)), or a semiconductor memory 105.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a configuration of the management server 10.A description of those elements which have functions similar to those ofthe personal computer 17 is omitted herein.

A CPU 121 controls operation of the entire management server 10. A ROM122 and a RAM 123 are connected to the CPU 121 by a bus 124, andprograms necessary for control processing to be executed by the CPU 121,fixed data, a conversion program for converting data to be transmittedfrom the hard disk recorder 3 to the mobile phone 14 or the personalcomputer 17 into data which can be displayed by the mobile phone 14 orthe personal computer 17, and other necessary programs are stored in astorage section 129. Various data including working data necessary forprocessing of the CPU 121 are stored into the RAM 123.

Also various kinds of information managed by the management server 10such as, for example, view information of television programs enjoyed byusers and registration information of the hard disk recorder 3 arestored in the storage section 129.

Now, a series of processes when the user remotely controls the hard diskrecorder 3 from its terminal to execute unattended recording in responseto a notification of insufficient capacity from the hard disk recorder 3is described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 14. It is assumed here thatthe terminal which is used by the user to confirm a notification fromthe hard disk recorder 3 is the mobile phone 14.

First, a notification process of the hard disk recorder 3 is describedwith reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. This process is started before thehard disk recorder 3 executes unattended recording. It is assumed thatthe user has set the hard disk recorder 3 so that, for example, allprograms which belong to the genre of sports may be recorded.Accordingly, the CPU 39 receives an EPG (Electrical Program Guide)broadcast from the broadcasting business unit 1 and stores the EPG inthe flash memory 44. The CPU 39 searches for a program whose genre isdefined as sports in accordance with the EPG, and when the broadcasttime of the program arrives, it executes a process of automaticallyreceiving the program and recording it onto the hard disk 43. As aresult, the free capacity of the hard disk 43 varies momentarily.

In step S31, the CPU 39 recognizes the data amount of the sport programwhose recording is to be started (or whose recording has been started)based on the EPG broadcast from the broadcasting business unit 1, anddetermines whether a free capacity sufficient to record the sportprogram remains on the hard disk 43.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S31 that a free capacity sufficient torecord the sport program remains on the hard disk 43, then the processadvances to step S32.

In step S32, the CPU 39 starts recording the program when the broadcasttime of the program arrives. In particular, the CPU 39 controls thetuner 31 to select a transmission channel including the program. Anoutput of the tuner 31 is demodulated by the digital demodulationcircuit 32 and is then subject to error correction by the errorcorrection circuit 33, whereafter it is input to the demultiplexer 34,by which a TS packet of the program (data regarding the sport program)is extracted. The CPU 39 deciphers the TS packet, which is in a formencrypted with a primary key, making use of a cipher key (primary key)supplied thereto from the IC card 42, and records the deciphered TSpacket on the hard disk 43. Where the data of the TS packet is in a formencrypted (scrambled) with a secondary key, the data is recorded as itis without being deciphered (descrambled).

On the other hand, if the CPU 39 determines in step S31 that the harddisk 43 does not have sufficient free capacity to record the sportprogram, then the process advances to step S33.

In step S33, the CPU 39 acquires from the flash memory 44 terminalinformation to which a notification is to be sent when the free capacityof the hard disk 43 is insufficient. Where the user sets, for example,the mobile phone 14 as the notification destination, the CPU 39 acquiresa telephone number or an electronic mail address of the mobile phone 14.On the other hand, if the user sets the personal computer 17 as thenotification destination, then the CPU 39 acquires an electronic mailaddress of the personal computer 17. In other words, the user must storeterminal information for reception of a notification in the flash memory44 or the like in advance.

In step S34, the CPU 39 controls the communication section 40 to requestthe management server 10 to originate a call to the notificationdestination acquired in step S33, i.e., the mobile phone 14. In responseto the request, the management server 10 issues a request to transferuser information to the hard disk recorder 3.

Then in step S35, the CPU 39 transfers user information such as an ID, apassword and so forth of the user stored in the flash memory 44.

In step S36, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification that themobile phone 14 has responded is received from the management server 10.If the user of the mobile phone 14 cannot respond to the call originatedfrom the hard disk recorder 3 or if the user information is not correct,then a notification that the provision of service should be rejected istransmitted from the management server 10 to the hard disk recorder 3.Therefore, the CPU 39 determines that a notification that the mobilephone 14 has responded is not received, and the process advances to stepS37.

In step S37, the CPU 39 determines whether a predetermined time haselapsed after starting the call origination process to the mobile phone14. If the CPU 39 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed,then it recognizes that the program cannot be recorded because ofinsufficient capacity, and ends the process.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S37 that the predetermined time has notelapsed, then the process advances to step S38.

In step S38, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification rejecting theprovision of service has been received from the management server 10. Ifthe CPU 39 determines that no such notification has been received, thenthe process returns to step S36 so that the process in the stepsbeginning with step S36 is repeated.

On the other hand, if the user information is wrong, then since anotification rejecting the provision of service is transmitted from themanagement server 10 to the hard disk recorder 3, the processing of theCPU 39 is ended.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S36 that the mobile phone 14 hasresponded, then the process advances to step S39.

In step S39, the CPU 39 controls the communication section 40 to notifythe management server 10 of a message indicating that unattendedrecording cannot be executed because there is insufficient free capacityin the hard disk 43. The management server 10 converts the messagetransmitted thereto from the hard disk recorder 3 into data of a formatwhich can be output from the mobile phone 14, and transmits theresulting data to the mobile phone 14.

The user will confirm the message transmitted from the hard diskrecorder 3 in step S39 on the mobile phone 14 and decide whether someprogram data recorded on the hard disk 43 should be erased to executeunattended recording (step S83 of FIG. 13 which is hereinafterdescribed). If the user decides to erase some program data recorded onthe hard disk 43, then the user requests the hard disk recorder 3 forlist information of the program data recorded on the hard disk 43 (stepS86 of FIG. 13).

In step S40, the CPU 39 determines whether a request for listinformation of the program data recorded on the hard disk 43 has beenreceived from the mobile phone 14.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S40 that a request for list informationof the program data recorded on the hard disk 43 has not been receivedfrom the mobile phone 14, then it recognizes that there is no need toexecute unattended recording and advances the process to step S41.

In step S41, the CPU 39 controls the communication section 40 totransmit to the mobile phone 14 a message indicating that the programcannot be recorded.

Thereafter, the process advances to step S42, in which the CPU 39 endsthe communication with the mobile phone 14. Then, the CPU 39 ends theprocessing.

On the other hand, if the CPU 39 determines in step S40 that a requestfor list information of the program data recorded on the hard disk 43has been received from the mobile phone 14, then the process advances tostep S43.

In step S43, the CPU 39 acquires list information of the recordedprogram data from the hard disk 43 and transmits the list information.The list information transmitted from the communication section 40 isconverted into data of a format which can be output from the mobilephone 14 by the management server 10 similarly to the messagetransmitted by the process in step S39, and then the data of the formatis transmitted to the mobile phone 14.

The user will confirm the list information of the program datatransmitted from the hard disk recorder 3 in step S43 on the displaysection 79 of the mobile phone 14 and select a program to be erased fromwithin the list information. If the user selects a program to be erased,then a request for detailed information of the program to be erased istransmitted from the mobile phone 14 (step S90 of FIG. 13).

In step S44, the CPU 39 determines whether a request for detailedinformation of the program to be erased has been received from themobile phone 14. If the CPU 39 determines that a request for detailedinformation has not been received from the mobile phone 14, then theprocess advances to step S41 so that the process in the steps beginningwith step S41 is executed. In other words, in this instance, recordingprocessing is not performed.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S44 that a request for detailedinformation of the program to be erased has been received from themobile phone 14, then the process advances to step S45.

In step S45, the CPU 39 reads out, from the flash memory 44, detailedinformation of the program designated by the request from the mobilephone 14 and transmits the detailed information from the communicationsection 40.

The user will confirm the detailed information transmitted from the harddisk recorder 3 in step S45 on the mobile phone 14 and decide if aninstruction to erase the confirmed program should be issued to the harddisk recorder 3 (step S93 of FIG. 14).

Then in step S46, the CPU 39 determines whether an instruction to erasethe program designated by the notification in step S43 has been receivedfrom the mobile phone 14. If the CPU 39 determines that an instructionto erase the program data has not been received from the mobile phone14, then the process advances to step S41 so that the process in thesteps beginning with step S41 is executed. In other words, also in thisinstance, recording processing is not performed.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S46 that an instruction to erase theprogram data has been received, then the process advances to step S47.

In step S47, the CPU 39 controls the hard disk 43 to erase the programdata in accordance with the instruction from the mobile phone 14.

Then in step S48, the CPU 39 issues to the mobile phone 14 anotification that the program data has been erased in accordance withthe instruction.

Then in step S49, the CPU 39 determines whether the hard disk 43 has asufficient free capacity to record the sport program as a result of theerasure of the data in step S47. If the CPU 39 determines that the freecapacity of the hard disk 43 is still insufficient, then the processreturns to step S39 so that the process in the steps beginning with stepS39 is executed repetitively.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S49 that a free capacity of the harddisk 43 sufficient to record the sport program is available, then theprocess advances to step S50.

In step S50, the CPU 39 issues to the mobile phone 14 a notificationthat a sufficient free capacity of the hard disk 43 is available.Thereafter, in step S32, the CPU 39 starts recording of the sportprogram set by the user.

Subsequently, the processing of the management server 10 when itreceives a notification of insufficient capacity from the hard diskrecorder 3 is described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. It is to benoted that the notification of insufficient capacity is received fromthe mobile phone 14.

In step S61, the CPU 121 determines whether a request to originate acall to the mobile phone 14 has been received from the hard diskrecorder 3. The CPU 121 waits until a request for call origination hasbeen issued from the hard disk recorder 3, and if it determines that arequest for call origination has been received, then the processadvances to step S62.

In step S62, the CPU 121 issues a request for user information to thehard disk recorder 3. The CPU 121 determines based on the acquired userinformation whether the user of the hard disk recorder 3 is a subscriberof the recording management service. In other words, the user of thehard disk recorder 3 must conclude a contract for the recordingmanagement service with a manager of the management server 10 inadvance.

In step S63, the CPU 121 determines whether user information has beentransmitted from the hard disk recorder 3. If the CPU 121 determinesthat user information has not been transmitted thereto, then the processadvances to step S64.

In step S64, the CPU 121 determines whether a predetermined time haselapsed after the issuance of the request for user information to thehard disk recorder 3. If the CPU 121 determines that the predeterminedtime has not elapsed, then the process returns to step S62 so that therequest for user information is repeated.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S64 that the predetermined time haselapsed after the issuance of the request for user information to thehard disk recorder 3, then the process advances to step S65.

In step S65, the CPU 121 issues from the communication section 130 tothe hard disk recorder 3 a notification of a message indicating thatservice cannot be provided because user information cannot be acquiredand therefore it cannot be determined whether the user is a subscriberof the recording management service. Thereafter, the process advances tostep S61.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S63 that user informationtransmitted from the hard disk recorder 3 has been received by thecommunication section 130, then the process advances to step S66.

In step S66, the CPU 121 searches the registered information stored inthe storage section 129 based on the user information transmitted fromthe hard disk recorder 3 to determine whether the user of the hard diskrecorder 3 is a subscriber of the recording management service. If theCPU 121 determines that the user of the hard disk recorder 3 is not asubscriber of the recording management service, then the processadvances to step S65 so that the process in the steps beginning withstep S65 is executed.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S66 that the user of the hard diskrecorder 3 is a subscriber of the recording management service, then theprocess advances to step S67.

In step S67, the CPU 121 originates a call to the mobile phone 14 inorder to start communication with the mobile phone 14.

Then in step S68, the CPU 121 determines whether a response from theuser of the mobile phone 14 has been received. If the CPU 121 determinesthat no response has been received from the user of the mobile phone 14,then the process advances to step S69.

In step S69, the CPU 121 determines whether a predetermined time haselapsed after the origination of a call to the mobile phone 14. If theCPU 121 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed, then theprocess returns to step S67 so that the call origination to the mobilephone 14 is repeated.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S69 that the predetermined time haselapsed after the origination of a call to the mobile phone 14, then theprocess advances to step S65, in which the CPU 121 issues to the harddisk recorder 3 a notification that service cannot be provided.

On the other, if the CPU 121 determines in step S68 that a response hasbeen received as a result of operation of a button of the inputtingsection 77 by the user of the mobile phone 14, then the process advancesto step S70.

In step S70, the CPU 121 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 anotification that a response has been received from the mobile phone 14.

Then in step S71, the CPU 121 determines whether data transmitted fromthe hard disk recorder 3 to the mobile phone 14 has been received by thecommunication section 130. If the CPU 121 determines that datatransmitted from the hard disk recorder 3 to the mobile phone 14 hasbeen received, then the process advances to step S72.

In step S72, the CPU 121 applies the conversion program stored in thestorage section 129 for the received data to convert the data into dataof a format which can be displayed by the display section 79 of themobile phone 14.

Then in step S73, the CPU 121 transmits the converted data from thecommunication section 130 to the mobile phone 14.

On the other hand, if the CPU 121 determines in step S71 that data fromthe hard disk recorder 3 has not been received, then the processadvances to step S74, skipping steps S72 and S73.

The CPU 121 determines in step S74 whether data transmitted from themobile phone 14 to the hard disk recorder 3 has been received by thecommunication section 130. If the CPU 121 determines that data from themobile phone 14 has been received, then the process advances to stepS75.

In step S75, the CPU 121 transmits the data received from the mobilephone 14 by the communication section 130 to the hard disk recorder 3without converting the data format of the data.

On the other hand, if the CPU 121 determines in step S74 that datatransmitted from the mobile phone 14 to the hard disk recorder 3 has notbeen received, then the process advances to step S76, skipping step S75.

In step S76, the CPU 121 determines whether transmission/reception ofdata of the hard disk recorder 3 and the mobile phone 14 has beencompleted. If the CPU 121 determines that transmission/reception of datahas not been completed as yet, then the process returns to step S71 sothat the process in the steps beginning with step S71 is executedrepetitively.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S76 that transmission/reception ofdata of the hard disk recorder 3 and the mobile phone 14 has beencompleted, then the process returns to step S61.

Now, a control process of the mobile phone 14 which remotely controlsthe hard disk recorder 3 is described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

In step S81, the CPU 71 determines whether a message indicating that thefree capacity of the hard disk 43 is insufficient has been received fromthe hard disk recorder 3. The CPU 71 waits until a message is receivedby the communication section 76, and if it determines that a message hasbeen received, then the process advances to step S82.

In step S82, the CPU 71 controls the display section 79 to display themessage received by the communication section 76 to notify the user ofthe message.

FIG. 15A shows an example of the message that the CPU 71 controls thedisplay section 79 to display by the process in step S82. On the displaysection 79, “The free capacity is short. Should a recorded program beerased? YES NO” is displayed to urge the user to select whether aprogram recorded already on the hard disk 43 should be erased. It is tobe noted that the display is given together with a ringing tone from aringing tone outputting section (not shown).

Then in step S83, the CPU 71 determines whether the user has chosen toerase recorded contents of the hard disk 43 in response to the messagedisplayed on the display section 79 in step S82 (i.e., whether the “YES”button has been selected). If the CPU 71 determines that the user hasnot chosen to erase recorded contents (i.e., if the user has decidedthat there is no need to execute unattended recording), then the processadvances to step S84.

In step S84, the CPU 71 receives a notification transmitted from thehard disk recorder 3 (step S39 of FIG. 9) and controls the displaysection 79 to display a message indicating that the program cannot berecorded.

FIG. 15B shows an example of the message that the CPU 71 controls thedisplay section 79 to display by the process in step S84. In the exampleshown in FIG. 15B, “The program cannot be recorded because the freecapacity is short.” is displayed.

In step S85, the CPU 71 ends the communication with the hard diskrecorder 3. Thereafter, the process returns to step S81.

On the other hand, if the CPU 71 determines in step S83 based oninformation input from the inputting section 77 that the user has chosento erase recorded contents of the hard disk 43 (i.e., if it isdetermined that unattended recording should be executed), then theprocess advances to step S86.

In step S86, the CPU 71 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 a request fortransmission of list information for the program data recorded on thehard disk 43.

List information transmitted from the hard disk recorder 3 (step S43 ofFIG. 10) is received by the communication section 76 through thecommunication antenna 15 in step S87.

Then in step S88, the CPU 71 controls the display section 79 to displaythe list information received by the communication section 76 by theprocess in step S87.

FIG. 15C shows an example of the message that the CPU 71 controls thedisplay section 79 to display by the process in step S88. In the presentexample, a message of “Which program should be erased?” is displayed,and messages of “News/weather forecast CH1 9:00” and “Wide show CH815:00” are displayed in a list as programs recorded already on the harddisk 43. “News/weather forecast” and “Wide show” represent the programtitles, and the “CH1” and the “CH8” represent broadcast channels, while“9:00” and “15:00” represent broadcast hours. Further, a “Return” buttonis displayed on the display section 79. The user can operate theinputting section 77 to select the “Return” button to restore theselection screen of FIG. 15A.

In step S89, the CPU 71 determines whether a program to be erased hasbeen selected by the user in response to the message displayed by theprocess in step S88. In particular, in the case of the display exampleof FIG. 15C, the CPU 71 determines whether one (or both) of the programdata of the “News/weather forecast” and the “Wide show” has beenselected. If the CPU 71 determines that a program to be erased has notbeen input from the inputting section 77 (when it determines that“Return” has been selected), then the process returns to step S82 sothat the process in the steps beginning with step S82 is repetitivelyexecuted.

If the CPU 71 determines in step S89 that a program to be erased hasbeen selected by the user, then the process advances to step S90.

In step S90, the CPU 71 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 a request fortransmission of detailed information of the program selected to beerased by the user. In the following, processing is described for thecase where the user selects the “News/weather forecast” as a program tobe erased.

In step S91, detailed information of the program transmitted from thehard disk recorder 3 is received by the communication section 76 throughthe communication antenna 15.

Referring now to FIG. 14, in step S92, the CPU 71 controls the displaysection 79 to display the detailed information received by thecommunication section 76 in step S91.

FIG. 15D illustrates an example of a message that the CPU 71 controlsthe display section 79 to display by the process in step S92. In theexample shown, a message of “Should this program be erased?” isdisplayed, and in addition to the program titles, broadcast channels andbroadcast hours described above, “Jun. 30, 2000” representative of thedate of the recording and “30 minutes” representative of the length ofthe recording are displayed. Furthermore, “Yes” and “No” buttons aredisplayed on the display section 79 so that the user can operate theinputting section 77 to select whether erasure should be performed.

In step S93, the CPU 71 determines whether a selection has been made toerase the program whose detailed information was displayed by theprocess in step S92. If the CPU 71 determines that the user has chosennot to erase the program (i.e., if the CPU 71 determines that the “No”button has been selected on the display screen of FIG. 15D), then theprocess advances to step S84 so that the process in the steps beginningwith step S84 is executed.

If the CPU 71 determines in step S93 that the user has chosen to erasethe program whose detailed information was displayed by the process instep S92 (i.e., if it is determined that the “Yes” button has beenselected on the display screen of FIG. 15D), then the process advancesto step S94.

In step S94, the CPU 71 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 aninstruction to erase the program displayed by the process in step S92.

Then in step S95, the CPU 71 issues a request for transmission of aresult of the erasure to the hard disk recorder 3 in order to confirmwhether the program which the CPU 71 instructed to erase has beenerased.

Then in step S96, the CPU 71 receives, by means of the communicationsection 76 thereof, a message of the result of the erasure transmittedfrom the hard disk recorder 3 in response to the process in step S95.

Then in step S97, the CPU 71 controls the display section 79 to displaythe message of the result of the erasure received by the communicationsection 76 by the process in step S96.

FIG. 15E illustrates an example of the message that the CPU 71 controlsthe display section 79 to display by the process in step S97. In thepresent example, a message of “The news/weather forecast has beenerased.” is displayed.

Then in step S98, the CPU 71 determines whether a notification that asufficient free capacity of the hard disk 43 has been assuredsuccessfully has been received from the hard disk recorder 3 by thecommunication section 76. If the CPU 71 determines that a notificationindicating that a sufficient free capacity has been assured successfullyhas not been received, then the CPU 71 recognizes that the free capacityof the hard disk 43 is still insufficient. Thereafter, the processreturns to step S82 so that the process in the steps beginning with stepS82 is executed repetitively.

On the other hand, if the CPU 71 determines in step S98 that anotification indicating that a sufficient free capacity of the hard disk43 has been assured successfully has been received from the hard diskrecorder 3 by the communication section 76, then the process advances tostep S99.

In step S99, the CPU 71 controls the display section 79 to display thenotification received by the communication section 76 in step S98.

FIG. 15F illustrates an example of a message that the CPU 71 controlsthe display section 79 to display by the process in step S99. In thepresent example, a message of “The capacity is assured” is displayed.

In the foregoing, data to be transmitted from the hard disk recorder 3is transmitted to the mobile phone 14 after it is converted by themanagement server 10 into data of a data format which can be output bythe mobile phone 14. However, if the hard disk recorder 3 has a built-inprogram which can convert the data format, then data can be transmitteddirectly to the mobile phone 14 from the hard disk recorder 3 withoutintervention of the management server 10.

Further, data to be transmitted from the hard disk recorder 3 (forexample, list information of programs recorded on the hard disk 43) istransmitted after a response from the mobile phone 14 has been received.However, such data may otherwise be transmitted collectively togetherwith a notification that the free capacity is insufficient.

Where the hard disk recorder 3 is connected to some other recordingapparatus (a DVD-RAM, a personal computer or the like), the user canremotely control the hard disk recorder 3 and the recording apparatusfrom the mobile phone 14 to transfer program data recorded on the harddisk recorder 3 to the recording apparatus.

Subsequently, an information processing system for view information orcharge information is described wherein the hard disk recorder 3 havingthe functions described above records a television program provided fromthe broadcasting business unit 1 onto the hard disk 43 and the userutilizes the television program.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a configuration of the informationprocessing system and illustrates a relationship among the broadcastingbusiness unit 1, hard disk recorder 3, management server 10 and chargingcenter 11 of FIG. 1 more particularly. It is to be noted that hard diskrecorders 3-1 to 3-3 have a configuration similar to that of the harddisk recorder 3.

The broadcasting business unit 1 includes a viewer management server151, a program preparation apparatus 152, a secondary key encryptionapparatus 153, a primary key encryption apparatus 154, and atransmission apparatus 155. A broadcasting antenna 2 is provided for thetransmission apparatus 155.

The charging center 11 includes a cipher key management server 161 and acharging server 162.

A television broadcast wave transmitted from the broadcasting antenna 2provided for the broadcasting business unit 1 is received by the harddisk recorders 3-1 to 3-3 through a satellite (not shown) and recordedin the hard disk 43 built in each of the hard disk recorders 3-1 to 3-3.It is to be noted that program data transmitted from the broadcastingbusiness unit 1 are in a state encrypted only with a primary key or withboth a primary key and a secondary key and are recorded in a statewherein they are decrypted only with the primary key (in a state whereinthey are not in an encrypted state or in an encrypted state only withthe secondary key).

If the user of the hard disk recorder 3-1 decrypts the televisionprogram using the secondary key and enjoys the television program, thenview information regarding the processing by the user is stored in astorage section (not shown) of the secondary key cancellation section 49and transmitted to the management server 10 after each predeterminedinterval of time. The management server 10 charges the user based on theview information (view information regarding decryption using thesecondary key). Also, view information regarding processing by the userwho decrypts program data with the primary key and records the programdata onto the hard disk 43 or enjoys the program data directly (on areal time basis) is transmitted to the management server 10. This viewinformation (view information regarding decryption using the primarykey) is stored in a storage section (not shown) provided in the IC card42 and transmitted to the management server 10 collectively for eachpredetermined period of time.

Also, view information from the hard disk recorders 3-2 and 3-3 istransmitted to the management server 10 for each predetermined period oftime similarly to the information from the hard disk recorder 3-1.

The management server 10 collectively stores, for each user, viewinformation (view information based on utilization of a primary key (theview information is hereinafter referred to as first view information)and view information based on utilization of a secondary key (the viewinformation is hereinafter referred to as second view information))transmitted thereto from the hard disk recorders 3-1 to 3-3. Themanagement server 10 transmits the first view information and the cardIDs of the IC cards 42 to the charging server 162 at a predeterminedtime (on the predetermined date or after each predetermined period).

The charging server 162 performs charging based on the first viewinformation transmitted thereto from the management server 10 andtransmits charge information and the card IDs to the viewer managementserver 151 of the broadcasting business unit 1. The charge informationincludes the charges for the programs viewed by the users of the harddisk recorders 3-1 to 3-3, the account numbers designated as a method ofpayment, and information of credit card numbers. Further, if thecharging server 162 charges based on electronic money, then the chargeinformation also includes value information of the electronic money andso forth.

The cipher key management server 161 produces a primary key based on thecard IDs of viewer information transmitted thereto from the viewermanagement server 151 and provides the primary key to the primary keyencryption apparatus 154. The cipher key management server 161 suppliesa secondary key transferred thereto from the management server 10 to thesecondary key encryption apparatus 153. The viewer information includesapparatus IDs of the hard disk recorders 3-1 to 3-3, card IDs of the ICcards 42 and so forth.

In the following, a series of processes when the user of the hard diskrecorder 3-1 receives and enjoys a television broadcast wave transmittedfrom the broadcasting business unit 1 using the hard disk recorder 3-1is described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 20.

First, processing of the broadcasting business unit 1 is described withreference to FIG. 17.

In step S101, the program preparation apparatus 152 compression codes aplurality of analog program sources acquired thereby in accordance withthe MPEG 2 system. The program preparation apparatus 152 multiplexes thecompression coded digital data to produce a transport stream of the MPEG2 system.

Then in step S102, the secondary key encryption apparatus 153 encryptsthe transport stream produced by the program preparation apparatus 152in step S101 using the secondary key provided thereto from the cipherkey management server 161. This encryption is performed when necessary,and a public key provided from a predetermined organization is used asthe secondary key.

Then in step S103, the primary key encryption apparatus 154 furtherencrypts the transport stream encrypted using the secondary key by thesecondary key encryption apparatus 153 in step S102 using the primarykey provided from the cipher key management server 161. In order toallow the primary key encryption apparatus 154 to receive provision ofthe primary key from the cipher key management server 161, the viewermanagement server 151 transmits viewer information including the cardIDs of the IC cards 42 for the hard disk recorders 3 to the cipher keymanagement server 161. The cipher key management server 161 produces aprimary key for the card IDs and transmits the primary key to theprimary key encryption apparatus 154.

In step S104, the transmission apparatus 155 determines whether apredetermined broadcast time has arrived. The transmission apparatus 155waits until the predetermined broadcast time has arrived, and when itdetermines that the predetermined time has arrived, the process advancesto step S105.

In step S105, the transmission apparatus 155 transmits a televisionbroadcast wave from the broadcasting antenna 2.

Now, a view control process of the hard disk recorder 3-1 when itreceives the television broadcast wave transmitted from the broadcastingbusiness unit 1 is described with reference to FIG. 18. It is assumedhere that the user of the hard disk recorder 3-1 enjoys the televisionprogram on a real-time basis.

In step S111, the CPU 39 issues a request for transmission of asecondary key to the management server 10 through the communicationsection 40 (this is limited only to the case in which it is determinedthat the secondary key is required in order to play back a programselected by the user). The requesting information to be transmitted fromthe hard disk recorder 3-1 includes, similarly to the view requestinformation transmitted to the cipher key management server 161, theapparatus ID of the hard disk recorder 3-1 and the card ID of the ICcard 42.

The management server 10 receives the secondary key requestinginformation from the hard disk recorder 3-1 and performs authenticationof the apparatus ID or the card ID, whereafter it transmits thesecondary key to the hard disk recorder 3-1. The secondary key is thesame as the secondary key which has been supplied from the managementserver 10 to and is stored in the cipher key management server 161. Themanagement server 10 itself produces the secondary key or acquires itfrom a predetermined organization. The secondary key is updated aftereach predetermined interval of time.

In step S112, the CPU 39 receives the secondary key transmitted theretofrom the management server 10 by means of the communication section 40and stores the secondary key in the storage section of the secondary keycancellation section 49.

Then in step S113, the CPU 39 decrypts the program data (TS packet) ofthe television program corresponding to the view request informationusing the primary key stored in advance in the IC card 42 and thesecondary key stored in the secondary key cancellation section 49 toplay back the program data. Upon such playback, the individual blocksperform such processes as described hereinabove.

Then in step S114, the CPU 39 stores the view information (first viewinformation) regarding the program decrypted (descrambled) using theprimary key in the storage section of the IC card 42. Further, the CPU39 stores the view information (second view information) regarding theprogram decrypted (descrambled) using the secondary key in the storagesection of the secondary key cancellation section 49.

Then in step S115, when the predetermined date and hour set by themanagement server 10 such as, for example, the last day of every monthcomes, the CPU 39 reads out the first view information from the storagesection of the IC card 42 and reads out the secondary view informationfrom the storage section of the secondary key cancellation section 49,and transmits the first and second view information from thecommunication section 40 to the management server 10 together withnecessary information, such as the apparatus ID of the hard diskrecorder 3-1, the card ID and so forth. Consequently, the hard diskrecorder 3-1 has to perform accessing only once when compared with analternative case wherein it transmits the first view information to thecharging server 162 or the broadcasting business unit 1 and transmitsthe second view information to the management server 10.

Subsequently, a process of the management server 10 which manages firstand second view information transmitted thereto from the hard diskrecorders 3-1 to 3-3 is described with reference to FIG. 19. In thefollowing description, when there is no need to distinguish the harddisk recorders 3-1 to 3-3 from one another, the hard disk recorders 3-1to 3-3 are referred to merely as hard disk recorders 3.

In step S131, the CPU 121 receives card IDs, first view information andsecond view information transmitted from the hard disk recorders 3. TheCPU 121 stores the card IDs in the storage section 129 and stores thefirst view information and the second view information separately fromone another in the storage section 129.

In step S132, the CPU 121 transmits the card IDs to the charging server162. Then, when a predetermined date and hour arrive, the CPU 121transmits the first view information from within the view information ofthe hard disk recorders 3-1 to 3-3 stored in the storage section 129collectively to the charging server 162. Consequently, the chargingserver 162 or the broadcasting business unit 1 need not collect suchview information individually from the plurality of hard disk recorders3-1 to 3-3. Thereafter, the charging server 162 charges the users of thehard disk recorders 3-1 to 3-3 based on the first view information, thatis, information regarding programs decrypted by the hard disk recorder 3using the primary key.

In step S133, the CPU 121 charges the users of the hard disk recorders3-1 to 3-3 based on the second view information stored in the storagesection 129, that is, the information regarding programs decrypted usingthe secondary key.

Now, a charging process of the charging center 11 is described withreference to FIG. 20.

In step S141, the charging server 162 provided in the charging center 11receives card IDs of the IC cards 42 and first view informationtransmitted thereto from the management server 10 on every predetermineddate and hour.

In step S142, the charging server 162 transmits the card IDs to theviewer management server 151. Thereafter, the viewer management server151 receiving the card IDs transmits the card IDs to the cipher keymanagement server 161 so that a primary key may be provided to theprimary key encryption apparatus 154.

In step S143, the charging server 162 performs a charging process basedon the first view information transmitted thereto from the hard diskrecorder 3.

In step S144, the charging server 162 transmits charge informationobtained by the charging process in step S143 to the viewer managementserver 151.

The information management system described above is not limited to theform described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 16 and may be formedfrom various combinations. For example, the management server 10 mayserve also as the charging server 162, or the broadcasting business unit1 itself may perform a charging process or manage a cipher key or keys.

Now, processes of the hard disk recorder 3 and the management server 10when the user first records a broadcast commodity guide program onto thehard disk recorder 3 and then plays back and views the commodity guideprogram at a predetermined time and then orders some commodity aredescribed. As described hereinabove, since the management server 10 isaccessed in various manners from the hard disk recorders 3, it has anaccess limitation function provided therefor in order to stabilizeprocessing. It is assumed that a commodity guide program viewed by auser is recorded in a state wherein it is encrypted with a secondary keyin the hard disk recorder 3.

First, an order acceptance process of the management server 10 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 21.

In step S151, the CPU 121 recognizes, from secondary key requestinginformation (transmitted by the process in step S182 of FIG. 23 which ishereinafter described) from the hard disk recorder 3, that the hard diskrecorder 3 plays back a commodity guide program, and transmits asecondary key corresponding to the commodity guide program.

FIG. 22A illustrates an example of a stream of a commodity guide programto be played back by the hard disk recorder 3 which has received thesecondary key. The hard disk recorder 3 starts playback of a commodityguide program illustrated as stream 1 and having a playback time of 15minutes.

In step S152, the CPU 121 determines whether the order acceptanceprocess of the program ordered from the user of the hard disk recorder 3has been completed. The user of the hard disk recorder 3 will inputnecessary information such as a necessary quantity and a method ofpayment based on an application screen displayed at the end of thecommodity guide program to order a commodity or commodities. If the CPU121 determines that the order acceptance process has been completed,then it transmits a message such as “Thank you”, whereafter it ends theprocess.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S152 that the order acceptance processhas not been completed, then the process advances to step S153.

In step S153, the CPU 121 determines whether the amount of processingbeing executed at present exceeds a reference value set in advance. Ifthe CPU 121 determines that the processing amount does not exceed thereference value, then the process returns to step S152.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S153 that the processing amount beingexecuted at present exceeds the reference value set in advance(reference processing capacity) because, for example, order informationis transmitted thereto in a concentrated manner from a large number ofhard disk recorders, then the process advances to step S154.

If the processing amount being executed at present exceeds the referencevalue and an order is received from a hard disk recorder 3, then the CPU121 predicts, in step S154, the shortest time (processing waiting time)before it becomes possible to accept the order information.

In step S155, the CPU 121 transmits the processing waiting timepredicted in step S154 from the communication section 130 to the harddisk recorder 3. Together with this, the CPU 121 transmits a message tourge the user of the hard disk recorder 3 to select whether the userwants to wait until the processing waiting time has elapsed.

In step S156, the CPU 121 determines, based on information transmittedthereto from the hard disk recorder 3, whether the user has chosen towait. The CPU 121 repeats the request by the process in step S155 untilit is determined that the user has chosen to wait (transmitted by theprocess in step S188 of FIG. 23).

If the CPU 121 determines in step S156 that the user of the hard diskrecorder 3 has chosen to wait, then the process advances to step S157.

In step S157, the CPU 121 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 aninstruction to play back an alternative stream (recorded program)recorded on the hard disk 43 for a time until the processing waitingtime has elapsed.

FIG. 22B illustrates a configuration of a stream when an instruction bythe process in step S157 has been executed by the hard disk recorder 3.The example shown is a stream in a case where, when 8 minutes elapseafter a commodity guide program is played back by the hard disk recorder3, the processing amount of the management server 10 exceeds thereference value and an instruction to play back an alternative stream isissued to the hard disk recorder 3. Further, in the present example, theprocessing waiting time calculated by the management server 10 by theprocess in step S154 is 5 minutes, and for a time until the processingwaiting time elapses, the hard disk recorder 3 plays back a recordedprogram recorded on the hard disk 43 for 5 minutes. It is to be notedthat, if the commodity presented in the commodity guide program is, forexample, an automobile, the hard disk recorder 3 refers to genreinformation recorded corresponding to program streams to select analternative stream (of the same genre) which is most related to thecommodity being presented in the program such as to select analternative stream whose program contents are an automobile race.

In step S158, the CPU 121 waits until the processing waiting time haselapsed. The CPU 121 causes the alternative stream to be played backuntil the processing waiting time has elapsed.

If the CPU 121 determines in step S158 that the processing waiting timehas elapsed, then the process advances to step S159, in which the CPU121 issues to the hard disk recorder 3 an instruction to stop theplayback of the alternative stream and perform the suspended playback ofthe program stream. In particular, as seen in FIG. 22B, in accordancewith the playback instruction by the process in step S159, the hard diskrecorder 3 resumes playback of the commodity guide program which hasbeen suspended for 7 minutes. Thereafter, the process returns to stepS152 so that the process in the steps beginning with step S152 isexecuted repetitively.

Now, a commodity ordering process of the hard disk recorder 3 isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 23 and 24.

Referring first to FIG. 23, in step S181, the CPU 39 determines whetheran instruction to play back a commodity guide program has been inputfrom the inputting section 46 by the user. The CPU 39 waits until aninstruction is input by the user, and if it determines that aninstruction has been input, then the process advances to step S182.

In step S182, the CPU 39 issues a request to the management server 10through the communication section 40 for a secondary key for playingback the commodity guide program recorded on the hard disk 43.

In step S183, the CPU 39 receives a secondary key transmitted theretofrom the management server 10 through the communication section 40 andstores the secondary key in the storage section of the secondary keycancellation section 49, whereafter it decrypts (descrambles) and playsback the commodity guide program stored on the hard disk 43.

Then in step S184, the CPU 39 receives necessary information input fromthe inputting section 46 by the user based on an application screendisplayed at the end of the commodity guide program and determineswhether the ordering of commodities has been completed. If the CPU 39determines that the ordering of commodities has been completed, then theCPU 39 causes a message such as “Thank you” transmitted thereto from themanagement server 10 to be displayed, and then ends the process.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S184 that the ordering of commoditieshas not been completed, then the process advances to step S185.

In step S185, the CPU 39 determines whether a notification of aprocessing waiting time has been received from the management server 10.If the CPU 39 determines that a notification of a processing waitingtime has not been received, then the process returns to step S184.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S185 that a notification of aprocessing waiting time has been received from the management server 10,then the process advances to step S186.

In step S186, the CPU 39 controls the monitor to display a selectionscreen for allowing the user to select whether the user wants to waitenjoying a program recorded on the hard disk 43 for a period until theprocessing waiting time has elapsed. Information of the selection screenhas been transmitted from the management server 10 together with thenotification of the processing waiting time.

In step S187, the CPU 39 determines based on information input theretofrom the inputting section 46 whether the user has chosen to wait. Ifthe CPU 39 determines that the user does not want to wait, then theprocess returns to step S186.

If the CPU 39 determines in step S187 that the user has chosen to wait,then the process advances to step S188.

In step S188, the CPU 39 issues to the management server 10 anotification that it will wait for a time until the processing waitingtime has elapsed.

In step S189, the CPU 39 receives, by the communication section 40thereof, an instruction transmitted thereto from the management server10 and indicating that an alternative stream (recorded program) recordedon the hard disk 43 is being played back, that is, an instruction sentfrom the management server 10 by the process in step S157 of FIG. 21.

Referring now to FIG. 24, in step S190, the CPU 39 determines whether analternative stream has been recorded on the hard disk 43. If the CPU 39determines that no alternative stream has been recorded on the hard disk43, then the process advances to step S191.

In step S191, the CPU 39 controls the monitor to display a message suchas “Please wait a minute!” set in advance by the management server 10.The message information displayed on the monitor is included in the dataof the commodity guide program broadcast by the broadcasting businessunit 1 and is recorded on the hard disk 43 together with the commodityguide program. In other words, in the example of FIG. 22B, the messageis displayed in place of the playback of the recorded program for 5minutes.

In step S192, the CPU 39 determines whether the processing waiting timehas elapsed. The CPU 39 waits in the state wherein it controls themonitor to keep the message displayed until the processing waiting timehas elapsed. Then, if the CPU 39 determines that the processing waitingtime has elapsed, the process advances to step S193.

On the other hand, if the CPU 39 determines in step S190 that analternative stream has been recorded on the hard disk 43, then theprocess advances to step S194.

In step S194, the CPU 39 plays back an alternative stream recorded onthe hard disk 43.

In step S195, the CPU 39 determines whether the processing waiting timehas elapsed. If the CPU 39 determines that the processing waiting timehas elapsed as a result of the playback of the alternative stream beingcontinued until the processing waiting time has elapsed, then theprocess advances to step S193.

In step S193, the CPU 39 plays back the remaining program stream inaccordance with an instruction from the management server 10.Thereafter, the process returns to step S184 so that the process in thesteps beginning with step S184 is executed repetitively.

In the foregoing description, when the management server 10 cannotexecute an order acceptance process, a program recorded on the hard disk43 of the hard disk recorder 3 is played back during the processingwaiting time. Alternatively, however, program data transmitted from themanagement server 10 (or where the management server 10 cannot process,another server which receives an instruction from the management server10) may be played back. This makes it possible for the user to awaitcompletion of the processing waiting time while enjoying the programeven if no program data has been recorded on the hard disk 43.

Further, external accessing may be limited not only with regard to acommodity order acceptance process, but also with regard to othervarious processes.

While the series of processes described above can be executed byhardware, it may otherwise be executed by software. Where the series ofprocesses is executed by software, a program which constructs thesoftware is installed from a recording medium into a computerincorporated in hardware for exclusive use or, for example, a personalcomputer 17 for universal use which can execute various functions byinstalling various programs.

The software for executing the series of processes is supplied from themagnetic disk 102, optical disk 103, magneto-optical disk 104 orsemiconductor memory 105 shown in FIG. 7 to the personal computer 17,read out by the drive 101 and installed into a hard disk drive built inthe storage section 99. The agent program installed in the storagesection 99 is loaded from the storage section 99 into the RAM 93 inaccordance with an instruction of the CPU 91 corresponding to a commandfrom the user input from the inputting section 96, and is executed bythe CPU 91.

It is to be noted that, in the present specification, the steps whichdescribe a program recorded in or on a recording medium may be, but neednot necessarily be, processed in a time series in the order asdescribed, and may also include processes which are executed parallellyor individually without being processed in a time series.

Further, the term “system” in the present specification is used tosignify an entire apparatus composed of a plurality of apparatus.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been describedusing specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposesonly, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

1. An information recording apparatus comprising: a recording unitoperable to receive data amount information regarding new content over afirst network, to determine whether the current free recording capacityof a recording medium is sufficient to record the new content based onthe data amount information regarding the new content, and to receivethe new content over the first network and record the new content ontothe recording medium when said recording unit determines that thecurrent recording capacity of the recording medium is sufficient torecord the new content; a notification unit operable to send, over asecond network to an information processing terminal, a notificationregarding the current free recording capacity of the recording mediumwhen said recording unit determines that the current free recordingcapacity of the recording medium is insufficient to record the newcontent; a receiver operable to receive an instruction transmitted overthe second network by the information processing terminal in response tothe information processing terminal receiving the notification; and aprocessor operable to control said recording unit, based on theinstruction, to process, at least a portion of prior contents previouslyrecorded on the recording medium.
 2. An information recording apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the notification includes a plurality oftitles associated with the previously recorded content, and saidprocessor causes said recording unit to erase a portion of thepreviously recorded content that is associated with at least adesignated one of the plurality of titles based on the instruction. 3.An information recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidrecording unit includes: a presetting unit operable to preset unattendedrecording of the new content onto the recording medium, and adetermination unit operable to determine the current free capacity ofthe recording medium prior to the unattended recording of the newcontents.
 4. An information recording apparatus according to claim 3,wherein said presetting unit searches for contents that is to bebroadcast which belongs to a designated genre, and presets theunattended recording so that at least part of any found content isrecorded onto the recording medium.
 5. A method for recording newcontent onto a recording medium, comprising: receiving data amountinformation regarding new content over a first network; determiningwhether the current free recording capacity of the recording medium issufficient to record the new content based on the data amountinformation regarding the new content; when the current recordingcapacity of the recording medium is sufficient, receiving the newcontent, and recording the new contents onto the recording medium; andwhen the current free recording capacity of the recording medium isinsufficient, sending, over a second network to an informationprocessing terminal, a notification regarding the current free recordingcapacity of the recording medium, receiving an instruction transmittedover the second network by the information processing terminal inresponse to the information processing terminal receiving thenotification, and processing, based on the instruction, at least aportion of prior content recorded on the recording medium.
 6. Acomputer-readable recording medium recorded with a computer program forcarrying out a method of recording new content onto a recording medium,said method comprising: receiving data amount information regarding newcontent over a first network; determining whether the current freerecording capacity of the recording medium is sufficient to record thenew content based on the data amount information regarding the newcontent; when the current recording capacity of the recording medium issufficient, receiving the new content, and recording the new contentonto the recording medium; and when the current free recording capacityof the recording medium is insufficient, sending, over a second networkto an information processing terminal, a notification regarding thecurrent free recording capacity of the recording medium, receiving aninstruction transmitted over the second network by the informationprocessing terminal in response to the information processing terminalreceiving the notification, and processing, based on the instruction, atleast a portion of prior content recorded on the recording medium.
 7. Aninformation processing terminal connected over a first network to aninformation recording apparatus, the information recording apparatusincluding a recording unit operable to receive data amount informationregarding new content over a second network, to determine whether thecurrent free recording capacity of a recording medium is sufficient torecord the new content based on the data amount information regardingthe new content, and to receive the new content over the second networkand record the new content onto the recording medium when the recordingunit determines that the current recording capacity of the recordingmedium is sufficient, said information processing terminal comprising: areceiver operable to receive, prior to the recording unit receiving thenew content, a notification over the first network from the informationrecording apparatus when the recording unit determines that therecording medium currently has insufficient free capacity to record thenew content based on the data amount information regarding the newcontent; a display unit operable to display the notification; aninstruction unit operable to receive at least one user-enteredinstruction, in response to the notification, for controlling therecording unit to process at least a portion of prior content previouslyrecorded on the recording medium; and a transmitter operable to transmitthe at least one user-entered instruction over the first network to theinformation recording apparatus, the information recording apparatusthereby controlling the recording unit based on the instruction.
 8. Aninformation processing terminal according to claim 7, wherein saiddisplay unit displays a plurality of titles associated with thepreviously recorded content, and the at least one instruction includesan instruction for controlling the recording unit to erase a portion ofthe previously recorded content that is associated with at least adesignated one of the plurality of titles.
 9. An information processingterminal according to claim 7, wherein said receiver receives thenotification through an information processing apparatus that isconnected to the information recording apparatus over the first network,and said transmitter transmits the instruction to the informationrecording apparatus through the information processing apparatus.
 10. Aninformation processing terminal according to claim 7, wherein saidinformation processing terminal is a wireless telephone, and the firstnetwork includes a wireless network.
 11. An information processingterminal according to claim 7, wherein the first network includes acellular network, said information processing terminal is a cellularphone, and said transmitter transmits the at least one user-enteredinstruction in an e-mail message.
 12. An information processing terminalaccording to claim 7, wherein the first network includes a wirednetwork, said information processing terminal is a computer, and saidtransmitter transmits the at least one user-entered instruction in ane-mail message.
 13. A method for operating an information processingterminal connected over a first network to an information recordingapparatus, the information recording apparatus including a recordingunit operable to receive data amount information regarding new contentover a second network, to determine whether the current free recordingcapacity of a recording medium is sufficient to record the new contentbased on the data amount information regarding the new content, and toreceive the new content over the second network and record the newcontent onto the recording medium when the recording unit determinesthat the current recording capacity of the recording medium issufficient, said method comprising: receiving, prior to the recordingunit receiving the new content, a notification over the first networkfrom the information recording apparatus when the recording unitdetermines that the recording medium currently has insufficient freecapacity to record the new content based on the data amount informationregarding the new content; displaying the notification; receiving atleast one user-entered instruction, in response to the notification, forcontrolling the recording unit to process at least a portion of theprior content previously recorded on the recording medium; andtransmitting the at least one user-entered instruction over the firstnetwork to the information recording apparatus, the informationrecording apparatus thereby controlling the recording unit based on theinstruction.
 14. A computer-readable recording medium recorded with acomputer program for carrying out a method of operating an informationprocessing terminal connected over a first network to an informationrecording apparatus, the information recording apparatus including arecording unit operable to receive data amount information regarding newcontent over a second network, to determine whether the current freerecording capacity of a recording medium is sufficient to record the newcontent based on the data amount information regarding the new content,and to receive the new content over the second network and record thenew content onto the recording medium when the recording unit determinesthat the current recording capacity of the recording medium issufficient, said method comprising: receiving, prior to the recordingunit receiving the new content, a notification over the first networkfrom the information recording apparatus when the recording unitdetermines that the recording medium currently has insufficient freecapacity to record the new content based on the data amount informationregarding the new content; displaying the notification; receiving atleast one user-entered instruction, in response to the notification, forcontrolling the recording unit to process at least a portion of theprior content previously recorded on the recording medium; andtransmitting the at least one user-entered instruction over the firstnetwork to the information recording apparatus, the informationrecording apparatus thereby controlling the recording unit based on theinstruction.
 15. An information processing apparatus connected over afirst network to an information recording apparatus and over a secondnetwork to an information processing terminal, the information recordingapparatus including a recording unit operable to receive data amountinformation regarding new content over a second network, to determinewhether the current free recording capacity of a recording medium issufficient to record the new content based on the data amountinformation regarding the new content, and to receive the new contentover the second network and record the new content onto the recordingmedium when the recording unit determines that the current recordingcapacity of the recording medium is sufficient, the informationprocessing terminal being operable to control the information recordingapparatus, said information processing apparatus comprising: a firstreceiver operable to receive, prior to the recording unit receiving thenew content, a first notification transmitted over the first network bythe information recording apparatus when the recording unit determinesthat the recording medium currently has insufficient free capacity torecord the new content based on the data amount information regardingthe new content; a first transmitter operable to transmit, over thesecond network to the information processing terminal, a secondnotification indicating receipt of the first notification by said firstreceiver; a second receiver operable to receive an instruction that istransmitted by the information processing terminal over the secondnetwork in response to the information processing terminal receiving thesecond notification; and a second transmitter operable to transmit, overthe first network to the information recording apparatus, a signal basedon the instruction, the information recording apparatus therebycontrolling the recording unit to process at least a portion of priorcontent previously recorded on the recording medium.
 16. An informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said firsttransmitter transmits a plurality of titles associated with thepreviously recorded content, and said second transmitter transmits asignal that causes the recording unit to erase a portion of thepreviously recorded content that is associated with at least adesignated one of the plurality of titles.
 17. A method for operating aninformation processing apparatus connected over a first network to aninformation recording apparatus and over a second network to aninformation processing terminal, the information recording apparatusincluding a recording unit operable to receive data amount informationregarding new content over a second network, to determine whether thecurrent free recording capacity of a recording medium is sufficient torecord the new content based on the data amount information regardingthe new content, and to receive the new content over the second networkand record the new content onto the recording medium when the recordingunit determines that the current recording capacity of the recordingmedium is sufficient, the information processing terminal being operableto control the information recording apparatus, said method comprising:receiving, prior to the recording unit receiving the new content, afirst notification transmitted over the first network by the informationrecording apparatus when the recording unit determines that therecording medium currently has insufficient free capacity to record thenew content based on the data amount information regarding the newcontent; transmitting, over the second network to the informationprocessing terminal, a second notification indicating receipt of thefirst notification by said first receiver; receiving an instruction thatis transmitted by the information processing terminal over the secondnetwork in response to the information processing terminal receiving thesecond notification; and transmitting, over the first network to theinformation recording apparatus, a signal based on the instruction, theinformation recording apparatus thereby controlling the recording unitto process at least a portion of prior content previously recorded onthe recording medium.
 18. A computer-readable recording medium recordedwith a computer program for carrying out a method of operating aninformation processing apparatus connected over a first network to aninformation recording apparatus and over a second network to aninformation processing terminal, the information recording apparatusincluding a recording unit operable to receive data amount informationregarding new content over a second network, to determine whether thecurrent free recording capacity of a recording medium is sufficient torecord the new content based on the data amount information regardingthe new content, and to receive the new content over the second networkand record the new content onto the recording medium when the recordingunit determines that the current recording capacity of the recordingmedium is sufficient, the information processing terminal being operableto control the information recording apparatus said method comprising:receiving, prior to the recording unit receiving the new content, afirst notification transmitted over the first network by the informationrecording apparatus when the recording unit determines that therecording medium currently has insufficient free capacity to record thenew content based on the data amount information regarding the newcontent; transmitting, over the second network to the informationprocessing terminal, a second notification indicating receipt of thefirst notification by said first receiver; receiving an instruction thatis transmitted by the information processing terminal over the secondnetwork in response to the information processing terminal receiving thesecond notification; and transmitting, over the first network to theinformation recording apparatus, a signal based on the instruction, theinformation recording apparatus thereby controlling the recording unitto process at least a portion of prior content previously recorded onthe recording medium.